PR vs XOM: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: PR is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. PR and XOM share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined PR and XOM exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Permian Resources Corporation was formed in September 2022 when Centennial Resource Development combined with Colgate Energy, and it was enlarged again by the Earthstone acquisition in late 2023. The company is a pure-play Permian operator, with roughly 535,000 net acres concentrated in the core of the Delaware Basin across West Texas and southeast New Mexico, and it describes itself as the second largest Permian pure-play E&P. Second quarter 2026 production averaged about 376,400 Boe/d, of which roughly 198,100 Bbls/d was crude oil. Proved reserves stood at about 1.12 billion Boe at year end 2025, 43% oil and 71% proved developed. Alongside the drilling program, Permian Resources runs an unusually active "ground game" of small leasehold and mineral purchases: in the first half of 2026 it closed roughly 190 separate transactions for about 54,000 net acres and 20,000 net royalty acres at a combined cost of $1.05 billion.

Full PR guide

Exxon Mobil is one of the world's largest publicly traded integrated oil and gas companies. It makes money across three main segments: Upstream, which finds and produces crude oil and natural gas; Product Solutions, which refines crude into fuels and manufactures petrochemicals and specialty products; and the newer Low Carbon Solutions unit, which is building carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, and lithium businesses. Being integrated means Exxon captures value along the full chain, from the wellhead to the gas pump and the chemical plant, which can smooth results when one part of the business is weak.

Full XOM guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• PR drivers: Acreage bought a parcel at a time, not a company at a time; A cost structure that sets the floor.
• XOM drivers: Record low-cost production growth; Pioneer integration and cost savings.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: The single largest risk is the oil price, and the second quarter's $97.81 per barrel realization is not a normal number: at $60 crude the same asset generates materially less free cash flow, and the capital program, the dividend and the acquisition pace would all have to be reset. For XOM, exxon's earnings are highly cyclical because they swing with oil and natural gas prices, which the company does not control and which depend on global supply, demand, and OPEC decisions.

Pick PR if you believe its drivers more; XOM if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the PR and XOM guides.

PR. With roughly 837 million Class A shares outstanding at about $23.87, the equity is worth on the order of $20 billion, or roughly $23 billion including net debt. Against trailing adjusted EBITDAX of about $4.36 billion that is a little over 5x, a multiple typical of oil-weighted shale producers and a discount to the majors, and trailing operating cash flow of about $3.99 billion covers the roughly $2 billion capital program with room. Trailing GAAP earnings of about $1.23 billion put the stock near the mid-teens on a price-to-earnings basis, but that figure is distorted by non-cash derivative swings and by the fact that the Class C units converted during the period, so cash flow multiples describe the business more faithfully than earnings multiples.

XOM. An integrated oil major like Exxon is best read through the commodity cycle rather than a single quarter. Earnings swing with oil and gas prices, so a high-price year can produce far more profit than a low-price year even with similar production. The key is whether free cash flow comfortably funds the dividend and buybacks across the cycle; Exxon's low-cost Permian and Guyana barrels are meant to do exactly that. These stocks typically trade at low-to-moderate P/E multiples because the market discounts the cyclicality and long-term energy-transition uncertainty.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): PR shows revenue (ttm) ~$5.74B, net income attributable to class a (ttm) ~$1.23B, adjusted ebitdax (ttm) ~$4.36B, q2 2026 production ~376,400 Boe/d (~198,100 Bbls/d oil); XOM shows revenue (fy2025) ~$335 billion, net income (fy2025) ~$28.8 billion, eps (fy2025, approx) ~$6.70, production ~4.7 million boe/d (record).

PR and XOM are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined PR and XOM exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.